Background

In the seventies, Sonardyne intermittently published a short newsletter ‘Sensor’, as a means of publicising and informing their customer base of it’s ongoing R&D and its subsea-positioning product innovations. In 2017 TruthStudio, as part of our wider role as design consultants and ‘brand guardians’ to the growing company, were commissioned to update the newsletter and develop it into an effective, bi-annual marketing and sales publication.

We renamed it ‘Baseline’ – a reference to the industry term used to measure acoustic ranges – and Sonardyne’s core business activities, systems and instruments at the time.

Our creative approach

After 10-years and 20 issues and a loyal readership of Sonardyne’s staff; leadership teams; strategic partners; customers (and competitors!) it was time for an editorial overhaul and re-design.

TruthStudio worked closely with the newly appointed, dedicated Editor and Senior Content Writer. Together we developed an idea for a serious B2B magazine – one with a broader industry sector remit, from respected independent contributors offering ‘thought-pieces’ and OpEd’s – in addition to Sonardyne’s own company news, case-studies and product features. We sought to reposition the publication as a must-read for anyone involved in the subsea engineering and technology sector.  

Our redesign began with the masthead. Over the past 10-years, the publication had gained a reputation for being authoritative and informative. To build on that, the name was abbreviated to reflect that familiarity and trust.

On the cover, the issue topic is brought to the fore in a clean, striking layout of a single ‘hero’ image of the company’s latest innovations and systems in context.

Inside, the focus of the content has been sharpened to emphasise the personality and confidence behind the company. The magazine was reorganised into three distinct editorial sections that each offer a look at the companies’ activities through the lens of leadership: “News” – a front-of-book update outlining recent developments, sales and operations – summarised with a topical industry ‘Viewpoint’; “Features” – longer pieces that spotlight innovation and technologies – each concluding in ‘The Kit List’ column – an ‘at-a-glance’ index of Sonardyne technologies and instruments referenced throughout the story; and “Tech” – a showcase of the latest essential equipment, software and systems available.

Results

The new design strikes a balance between traditional and contemporary. Short, ‘visual soundbites’ of data are mixed with longer reads and a structured but flexible grid opens up the pages in clean, clear layouts that let the content breathe. Throughout, greater use of simplified system illustrations and diagrams, photography and infographics are used to create a varied and vibrant presentation that reflects the scope of Sonardyne’s global technologies.

With an increased circulation of over 100% following its relaunch – BL has reinforced Sonardyne’s position as one of the most trusted, knowledgeable and influential solutions provider in its sector.